walking for fat loss

[westley1987]

Good morning everyone!!

Started my fat loss journey a couple weeks ago. Still going strong! I'm walking every morning, I'm currently at 3.5 miles in a hour. My short term goal is to get to 4 miles every hour and get to where I can jog or run a portion of it.. I've got some great advice from some guys on here the past week or so over fat loss/ bulking etc
..do u guys have any advice about walko, jogging, running??..

My long term weight loss goal is to drop 100 lbs before I start my first bulk.. of course I wanna lose the fat as healthy and quickly as I can

Probably been eating around 1500-2000 calories a day right now.. I'm working on cutting bad calories and adding healthy clean ones in their place..

[Womble619]

Good for you mate! I really hope you get to where you want to be!

Your calories are a bit low if you are around 1500 calories, but as you are fairly overweight it wouldnt be bad if you lost up to 3 pounds a week. I personally would encourage you to stay closer to 2000 calories as 1500 is kinda demotivationally low and will have you pretty tired and we dont want you to give up!

[dmacdonal9]

Walking is a great way to burn some extra calories and transition towards more activity. However, you'll want to ease into lifting weights now as well. You don't want to wait for that, it's important right now.

[westley1987]

Good for you mate! I really hope you get to where you want to be!

Your calories are a bit low if you are around 1500 calories, but as you are fairly overweight it wouldnt be bad if you lost up to 3 pounds a week. I personally would encourage you to stay closer to 2000 calories as 1500 is kinda demotivationally low and will have you pretty tired and we dont want you to give up!

So I don't want to go below 2000 calories.. I've been adding a extra meal b4 I walk in the morning (bowl of oatmeal).. I've seemed to have a lot more engery ever since then.. I may be over
I know what in eating right now is not the best.. its better than it was but not where I need to be..

Here is a example of my daily meals this week...
Oatmeal b4 walk.

Ham and Swiss cheese sandwich
some type of chips (I know I need to replace these)
Iced green tea

Usually the same meal when I get home from work..

I know these r not my best choices but they are not where I was..
I was guessing calories I may have been over 2000 with that food

My wife is shopping right now I gave her a list of fruit and veggies to replace some of the "junk" we have not had a chance to shop for the last week or so.. (reason I have the junk in there)...

[westley1987]

Walking is a great way to burn some extra calories and transition towards more activity. However, you'll want to ease into lifting weights now as well. You don't want to wait for that, it's important right now.

Yea I plan on adding in weights.. I have a weight machine.. (nothing much just a small thing from walmart).. I've lost a few pieces to it when we moved.. but u can do bench press, chest flys, bicep curls, leg extensions, and some type of pull down bar... (the bar is what I lost).. but I guess for starting this will suffice until I progress and invest in some free weights.

[westley1987]

I was gonna upload a pic.. can you do that from the mobile app??

[Robster81]

Kettle bell swings 3-4 days a week

http://www.halfsizeme.com/029-half-s...-of-the-swing/

"What one man can do, another can do!"

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9ALOI63...%3D9ALOI63X_CE

[madhessian]

Totally agree with your approach. Went from 305 down to 239 since April 1st, 2013. Doing about what you are. I literally took months to condition. my feet and legs to handle the outdoor pounding. I still eat the rare Big Mac along with a dressing free garden salad. I got used to eating once every 24 hours and getting my calories 1800 - 2000 per day. Saves on constantly testing my will power with 4 or 5 small meals a day. The only thing I truly gave up was all soda, reg. and diet. Bad crap, ar least for me. I try for a gallon of water a day and allow myself 1 or 2 coffees per day.

[westley1987]

Yea giving up diet soda was a harder thing for me. I don't have it often (maybe 1 or 2 times a week now).. I'm hoping that I start to lose some weight in my belly soon.. I've dropped around 10-15 lbs in the last 3 weeks or so.. I've lost about 45 from my highest weight.. but I'm still in the same size clothes.. over the years I've lost n gained up n down.. and each time in the last couple years it seem to have came back all in my belly and it seems to be the last place its leaving from.. any advice that would help burn that belly fat?? Set ups?? Etc..

[EdwardMT]

Yea giving up diet soda was a harder thing for me. I don't have it often (maybe 1 or 2 times a week now).. I'm hoping that I start to lose some weight in my belly soon.. I've dropped around 10-15 lbs in the last 3 weeks or so.. I've lost about 45 from my highest weight.. but I'm still in the same size clothes.. over the years I've lost n gained up n down.. and each time in the last couple years it seem to have came back all in my belly and it seems to be the last place its leaving from.. any advice that would help burn that belly fat?? Set ups?? Etc..

Keep it up, you are doing really well.. All rewards come in time, and you just need to keep doing what you are doing, while implementing in some weight training to help muscle gains.
Unfortunately you cannot spot reduce (wishful thinking), but if you are consistent with your weight loss, you will notice that your stomach fat will eventually leave you. A strong core is always good, but doing 1000s of sit ups isn't going to get you a flat stomach, abs are made in the kitchen! Eat clean and train hard!

[StillFat53]

When I first started at my level all I could do was walk.
i walked two hours a day covering 12km I think 7-8 miles.
It helped me greatly in losing weight fast and getting my metabolism going and getting some very basic conditioning into my leg muscles and back.

I think it's really effective, bring your ipod and walk away.

[tara19]

While the cardio is fantastic, I wouldn't forget about weight training either.
Weight training helps with losing muscle.

Good job but

[westley1987]

I'm currently only walking 3.5 to 4 miles a day
. I would up that a lot but I just don't have the time in the day..

[amw9490]

Walking does work. I do my cardio on a treadmill, but I walk 4 miles in 60 minutes, 5x a week. Add that to a caloric deficit and weight training and the weight will fall off, especially at your size.

[TheGhost9900]

You mentioned that you might be guessing at how many calories you are taking in. If you are not already using it I would go to the myfitnesspal website and get set up there to track your foods and calories. Its nice because you can use the my foods section there to make yourself a variety of meal plans and save them or print them out if you like. That and a digital kitchen scale have been very useful for me.

[westley1987]

I'm currently at 3.5 miles every 60 min.. my goal is by next week to be at 4 miles in 60 min..
I'm a app junkie I have heard of my fitness pal, I need to check it out.

I'm also going to start simple weight training in the morning as well.. like bench press, chest fly, bicep curls

[RocknRollMuscle]

walking is a great low intensity exercise to perform while cutting when energy and glycogen levels are already low. I encourage all my clients to ramp up daily activity and have relaxing evening walks.

[madhessian]

Walking does work. I do my cardio on a treadmill, but I walk 4 miles in 60 minutes, 5x a week. Add that to a caloric deficit and weight training and the weight will fall off, especially at your size.

Amen, I do a couple 5x5 sets of 2 different heavy lifts (for me anyway) per day. to at least maintain, and maybe improve. my strength 5 days a week.Not concerned with any bulking, just don't want to lose ground, strength wise. Working so far.

[crupiea]

eat more.

you should be around 2300 per day. that way you get all that you need to support your efforts without the starvation that people think they need.

I started at 320 and was on the treadmill at about 275 running slowly. You will be there soon enough, just stay on track.

[PLbeast]

Walking is fine but I am pretty sure that you will lose a lot of muscle at that deficit and especially without weight training.try to join a gym lift heavy and up your cals to 2000-2300 if weight loss stalls then decrease but I doubt that would happen.

[westley1987]

So from what I've collected.. I need to be eating around 2000-2500 calories a day, along with my cardio walking I need to add in weights.. like 3 times a week.. at my cardio I'm currently burning about 600-800 calories a session.

Done like 4.6 miles today. Not in 60 minutes tho it was like 1.5 hours.. starting in the morning I'm pushing it to 4 miles a hour.. gonna do that for a week or so then push it up again.

And with all this combined once I get to like 20-25% body fat I can start bulking to add muscle ..

Making sure I get enough healthy fat and protein in my diet is a priority, keeping my calories at that level to keep feeding my metabolism and exercise to burn my current fat..

Okay this is kinda where I'm standing with everything any other advice b4 I set out a plan?? Gonna work on this tonight.

[RPAYNE509]

Also read the sticky on macros. Oatmeal is a great source of carbs, keeps you full for awhile, provides energy and has a little protein in there too. Sandwiches can be a good option too, I load up on the meat and cheese to get the most protein I can out of that bread intake. Chips - there are no bad foods! I had donuts for breakfast the last two days and still hit 170g protein 66g fat at only 1700 cals. IIFYM for the win, you don't have to give up the things you like, just work around them.

Good job on taking the first steps and learning. I see you have done some reading since your juicing thread. keep it up

[mpawlicki]

I think most people here will take weight lifting as primary means of losing weight, and cardio as secondary. I do too. And I hate cardio, I hate sweating. I do low impact cardio too. Lots of walking. I walk during lunch breaks at work, and I walk on a gazelle while watching tv shows. I also ride my bicycle, I love riding. I personally don't like running. There are a million of benefits of HIIT, but I just don't like it. I'd rather do it at a slower paste. But then again, I concentrate on lifting rather than cardio.
Also, I already wake up early for work, but on days off I try to do cardio on empty stomach. Supposedly your body will burn more fat since it doesn't have a fresh supply of carbs. I do about 20-30 minutes of biking on empty stomach before my morning oatmeal and whey.

[dmacdonal9]

And with all this combined once I get to like 20-25% body fat I can start bulking to add muscle ..

If by bulking, you mean eating at a calorie surplus, save that for when you're much leaner, under 15% bodyfat ideally.

For now, just focus on lifting weights while in a calorie deficit. You'll make some modest gains and preserve lean mass while losing fat.

Walking is great, and keep doing it if you like, but lifting weights should become your priority, right now.

[PLbeast]

If by bulking, you mean eating at a calorie surplus, save that for when you're much leaner, under 15% bodyfat ideally.

For now, just focus on lifting weights while in a calorie deficit. You'll make some modest gains and preserve lean mass while losing fat.

Walking is great, and keep doing it if you like, but lifting weights should become your priority, right now.

^Op this is what you should be doing.

[westley1987]

Awesome, gonna read up on macros tonight. And I don't plan on trying to bulk any time soon...I have narrow shoulders, and of course the extra weight I am carrying around my waist don't help that look.

I'm just excited to get to start building some muscle and lean mass.. I know during the weight loss phase I'm gonna need to focus on the loss, keeping the lean mass I have and burning as much fat as possible..

[westley1987]

Downloaded my fitness pal.. love it!! I hit my target calories today .. 2000..

[westley1987]

Right at 4 miles this morning.. keeping calories at 2000-2500 a day.. the scale has not changed.. but I can tell a little difference, can u gain weight (lean mass) while walking/jogging?? I can tell I have lost some in my legs. I just measured every thing like 2 days ago so it will be a while b4 I can compare..

[noobydooby]

OP.. someone already mentioned FOOD SCALE.. this is the only item missing in your program now. in the beginning, you MUST have a food scale to make sure you are counting calories and macros correctly. knowing all the numbers won't do any good if you are not really following them. at this point, do not guess. weigh everything you eat. EVERYTHING.

[westley1987]

Ohh. Okay , I'll have to check in and get me one of them.. I have been following the nutritional facts with the food lables.. the food I've been eating has been pretty simple to follow the calories.. I've been using measuring cups and I usually over add on calories if I'm not 100% sure.. and I try to undershoot daily on my calories.. but I will check on getting a scale. How much do they usually run??